Dan Hurley compares NIL roster costs to a poker game: 'Hard to know what's real'

Speaking at Big East Media Day, UConn coach Dan Hurley compared NIL roster cost conversations to a poker game, per sports.yahoo.com.

"I look at it like it's a poker game. There's a certain amount that you probably need to have to get in the game," Hurley said.

He then laid out the stakes: "Is that number $14 million? Is that number $18 million to get to a Final Four? I don't know exactly what that number is."

Hurley admitted it's hard to quantify the exact cost to reach the NCAA Tournament, saying "you're just not sure what's real and what's not real." The specific dollar amount needed to reach the NCAA Tournament or Final Four is not confirmed.

THE HIDDEN NUMBERS

Part of the reason the number is so hard to pin down, Hurley said, is that coaches keep their exact figures close to the vest, according to sports.yahoo.com.

Some coaches will say they spend more than they actually do, while others might suggest a lower number, he explained. That leaves the public guessing at what is real.

"Some of the things you see online are not accurate," Hurley said. "They're either inflated – coaches are either going to inflate what other coaches are paying their players and then, they're going to, like … say you paid less and that other people paid more. So it's hard to really know."

Specific team NIL spending figures are not confirmed, and Hurley's comments are his own observations of how the landscape operates. The poker game, in other words, is played with bluffs on both sides of the table.